China is willing to join hands with Singapore and other member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to promote regional and global peace, stability, development and prosperity, said Yang Jiechi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee.

He made the remarks during a meeting with Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at the Istana on Thursday.  

Noting rising instability and uncertainty in the current international climate, Yang, also director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee, said that the spread of COVID-19 has made it increasingly clear that humanity shares a common destiny.

China is willing to work together with Singapore and other ASEAN countries to deepen strategic mutual trust and pragmatic cooperation and make concerted efforts with them to safeguard economic globalization and fairness and justice in the international arena, Yang said.

In the face of the epidemic, China and Singapore have been helping each other and keeping the industrial and supply chains stable and smooth, the senior Chinese diplomat said, pointing to the various bright spots in the joint anti-COVID-19 efforts between the two countries.

As this year marks the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Singapore, the China-Singapore relations are at a new historic starting point, Yang said.

China stands ready to work with Singapore to strengthen what they have achieved in the fight against COVID-19, further promote the high-quality joint development of the Belt and Road and build the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor, a joint project of western Chinese provincial regions and Singapore under the government-to-government framework of the China-Singapore (Chongqing) Demonstration Initiative on Strategic Connectivity.

Lee Hsien Loong, for his part, emphasized that the COVID-19 pandemic requires more than ever that countries work together and communicate with each other rationally.

The achievements the two countries have scored in their relations are beyond the imagination when the ties were forged 30 years ago.

Lee added that Singapore would take good use of the existing bilateral cooperation mechanism with China to push forward the ASEAN-China relationship and jointly spur the regional and global economic recovery.

In a Facebook post on Thursday night, Lee also expressed hope that the China-Singapore "fast lane" arrangement for essential business and official travel will be able to cover more places if the outbreak "stays under control."

Yang was on a two-day visit to Singapore from Wednesday. During his visit, Yang also met with Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister, Coordinating Minister for Economic Policies and Minister for Finance Heng Swee Keat, Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security Teo Chee Hean and Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan.

Heng said in a Facebook post on Thursday night that since the worsening of the COVID-19 outbreak, it was his first in-person meeting with a foreign leader. 

"As we gradually resume daily activities and reopen our borders, we can look forward to more high-level exchanges, with safe measures in place, as we strengthen our ties with countries around the world," he said.

(With input from Xinhua)

(Cover: Yang Jiechi (R), member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, and Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong pose for photos in Singapore, August 20, 2020. /Ministry of Communications and Information of Singapore)